Nearly Famous Heating Quotes

HeatingHelp

These sayings that we’ve heard in our industry throughout the years are brimming with truth and humor.

Read the full story here

MikeDurigon

One I like. What are ya building a watch

Steamhead

Better idiots- I like that. My favorite one is "You can't fix stupid", which I got from @Firedragon .

SlowYourRoll

Neil Young got the album name "Rust Never Sleeps" off of the side of a contractor's truck he passed one day. They tell the story in his biography "Shakey" somewhere.

SlamDunk

Each one of those sayings could be titles to chapters in my career.

One that I used to use but is obsolete now is, "you can't have fast, better AND cheaper at the same time." That management mantra trickled down to manufacturing from NASA but after a few inter planetary crashes, the GAO said that this management philosophy is "flawed". At the time I was a field guy for a manufacturer that did about 15-20 million in sales per year but struggled with 2+million in after sales warranty work.

You never hear faster, better, cheaper, anymore.

mattmia2

It is just called lean management or a couple iso standard numbers or whatever buzzword someone is marketing it as this month.

Jamie Hall

One of my favourites you missed -- If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

PC7060

"Perfect is the enemy of good"

HomerJSmith

How 'bout this:

"If the rate of evaporation exceeds the rate of drip--you don't have a leak."

Or: "If you cut a pipe three times and it's still too short--you need a new pipe."

Or: "We're imitators, not innovators."

mferrer

Measure twice, cut once.
I never had a leak, that anybody saw.
We're not building a watch.
First up, best dressed.

136lin

"It's not the work that's difficult, it's the customers that are difficult."

"Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance" quoted from James Baker, (Taught to my children as "PPPPP)

SlamDunk

"Would you stop trying to create a shuttle launch? " Also obsolete.

HomerJSmith

136lin, I heard said this way:
"Lack of preparation leads to piss poor performance."

SlamDunk

mattmia2 said:

It is just called lean management or a couple iso standard numbers or whatever buzzword someone is marketing it as this month.

Oh yeah, lean management.

I remember someone explaining the Japanese 5S's for organization as if it were the greatest thing since cold beer.

I told him my old man used to say: "a place for every thing and a thing for every place.- Not that original this 5S thing.

HomerJSmith

This is not too famous, but I put it on all my receipts.

"All complaints about my work are handled by our office in Budapest."

ethicalpaul

SlowYourRoll said:

Neil Young got the album name "Rust Never Sleeps" off of the side of a contractor's truck he passed one day. They tell the story in his biography "Shakey" somewhere.

Here's the story. He heard it from Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo who got it from Rustoleum:

After his final performance at the Boarding House on May 28, Young collaborated with the art punk band Devo on a cacophonous version of "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" at the Different Fur studio in San Francisco and, would later introduce the song to Crazy Horse.[9] During the Different Fur studio session, Devo vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh added the lyrics "Rust never sleeps", a slogan he remembered from his graphic arts career promoting the automobile rust proofing product Rust-Oleum. Young adopted the line and used it in his Crazy Horse version of the song, as well as for the title of his album.[10]

Larry Weingarten

I think many of the quotes come from chasing the truth, so here's my favorite quote on truth. It's best read really slowly!

"The inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature."
-- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Yours, Larry

fastd

No one's going to take pictures of it!
Single nuts are fine on that rack (in a mechanical room)
And I would have to submit that Perfect is not necessarily the enemy of good>

HomerJSmith

Another one??? Dang, Homer!

"Why is there never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over."

EdTheHeaterMan

According to my children, My customers had it good, I knew how to fix most of the problems I encountered and the customers were happy about that. The kids felt sorry for them only because of the infamous Dad Joke they had to endure that came at the end of each winter service call.

"I hate to hEAT and run, But I have another cold customer to visit."

RickBlackford

When all is said and done, more will have been said than done.

DanHolohan

Good ones, guys. The ones in my article came from you guys about a year ago, so thanks!

PerryHolzman

Trust me, I know what I'm doing (Alternate: I'm an expert at this)

lager

A little off Topic, but in the same vane
From The Book Moral Compass
"Long ago in Ancient Greece an aged sculptor was laboring over a block of stone. He carved with the utmost care, probing the rock with his chisel, chipping away a fragment at a time, gauging the marks with sinewy hands before making the next cut. When it was finished, the piece would be hoisted high into the air and set on top of a towering shaft, and so would become the capital, or uppermost part, of a column. And the Column would help support the roof of a lofty temple.

A Government official who was passing by, asked the old artist. Why spend so much time and effort on a section that will sit fifty feet high, and no human eyes will be able to see those details?

The old Artist put down his hammer and chisel, gazing steadily at his questioner, and replied: But God will see it!

lager

Another one
if you have heard of Jeff Bezos' Spaceflight Company "Blue Origin "
The Company Motto is " Gradatim Ferociter" Latin for "Step by Step Ferociously".
As Bezos says "If you're building a flying vehicle, you can't cut any corners. If you do, it's going to be an illusion that it's going to make it faster,,,,,,,,,,,,,,You have to do it step by step, but you want to do it ferociously."
Blue Origins Mascot is a Tortoise as a lesson from the fable of the hare and the tortoise,,,,,,"slow and steady wins the race."
Bezos' puts it another way "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast."
Included in the Coat of arms is an houglass,,,,,,,,,,,"time is fleeting, we don't have forever."

lager

I was fortunate to work with a some very good mechanics and bosses in my youth.
One who passed away in the last couple years, told me once,,,,,,,"Learn to do it right first, the speed will come!"

lager

Plus,,,,,,,,,,, as Miracle Max (Billy Crystal) says in Princess Bride

"If you rush a Miracle Man,,,,,you get lousy miracles"!

BillyO

me to my helper, " Try to be smarter than the pipe"

Solid_Fuel_Man

You must have stock in copper.....

Lyle {pheloa} Carter

When I was an apprentice coming up, my dad always used to say, in response to a strange orders from the big bosses. ( Engineers,
architects, clerk of the works, etc, Ours is not to reason why, ours is to do do do or die.

EdTheHeaterMan

...Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.

Charge of the Light Brigade ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

PC7060

EdTheHeaterMan said:

...Into the valley of death rode the six hundred. Charge of the Light Brigade ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

But hopefully not just yet.  

HVACNUT

"If you can't do it, PACK UP YOUR S**T AND GO THE **** HOME!"
My first boss, who became like a Dad to me.
Nobody's gonna tell me I cant do it. 

lager

Heard this one also:

"Grandma is slow,,,,,,,,,,,,,but she has an excuse,,,,,,,she is 85 !"

CLamb

Not a heating quote but it is all over online forums. RTFM = read the fu**ing manual.

PC7060

A guy I worked for many (many) years ago was from Texas and he had a couple gems that were pretty good.

When we were working on a job, it was generally pretty detailed and some minor issue that really didn’t impact either the workmanship or the operation would come up.  We would deal with the issue but if some one on the team still kept worrying about it, he would say “let it go, it’s just fly poo in the pepper”. 

Another thing he would say when the customer was very enthusiastic, “they’ll be on it like a duck on a June bug! “

Gilmorrie

If you ask an engineer "what time is it?", he'll tell you how to build a watch.

PC7060

Gilmorrie said:

If you ask an engineer "what time is it?", he'll tell you how to build a watch.

Now that’s an exaggeration. We just ask to what precision you want the answer; Zulu time is assumed.

Larry Weingarten

Here are some: "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." ... “But men may construe things after their fashion, Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.” ... “I do but keep the peace.” ... “We cannot be here and there too.” ... “Like a man to double business bound, I stand in pause where I shall first begin. And both neglect”

Who knew Shakespeare was an ace troubleshooter?

Yours, Larry

hvac01453

NOTHING IS SO EASY IT CAN'T BE DONE WRONG

hvac01453

YOU CAN HAVE IT GOOD FAST AND CHEAP......PICK TWO!